


Feathers

by DeCarabas



Series: Fugitives Together [29]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Act 3, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 21:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7238836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeCarabas/pseuds/DeCarabas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A red favor and a black coat. For the prompt "subtle kindnesses."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feathers

“I fell asleep?” Hawke mumbles, stretched out beside the embers of their campfire with his head resting in Anders’ lap, wrapped in a makeshift blanket.

“You needed it. I can keep watch alone.”

“No, that’s not how it works.” A protest that would probably be more effective if he sat up, but he’s too comfortable to move.

He tugs the ‘blanket’ a little closer, smiles as he recognizes it. Two layers of coat draped over him, black feathers and worn leather, heavy and warm. And Anders’ fingers brush the hair over his forehead and stay there, lightly petting, and definitely not making him feel inclined to move anytime soon.

He looks up at Anders, sitting in his shirtsleeves with the touch of a warming spell playing over his skin. Stark in the moonlight in those dark clothes. His staff lying beside him, bare of the red favor that used to be wrapped around it. The favor will be tucked away somewhere, but Anders has stopped wearing it where anyone else can see, and Hawke can’t figure out what to make of that.

He can’t figure out what to make of a lot of things lately. Camping out on the coast because Meredith thinks it’s his job to hunt down blood mages, for one. How has this become his life?

“Does Justice disapprove of colors now?” he says sleepily, only half joking, plucking at the heavy black fabric he’s wrapped in. And Anders stops petting and gives him his usual irritated _for-the-love-of-Andraste-please-stop-trying-to-figure-out-me-and-Justice-you’re-awful-at-it_ look, which is pretty much what Hawke had expected. But his expression softens.

“He loved color, actually,” he says after a moment. His shoulders lift in a shrug, a hint of a smile, there and gone, and Hawke notes the past tense and doesn’t comment. “This world is so bright and vivid… overwhelming, really. And people take it for granted so easily.”

He starts to move his hand away, but Hawke catches it, laces their fingers together. Anders’ fingers are warm for once, wrapped in elemental magic, spilling over to wrap around Hawke.

Anders watches their hands. “He used to appreciate the symbolism of it.” Speaking slowly, picking his words. “In the Fade, everything has meaning, everything is an expression of purpose. The colors people choose, the way we dress—it’s not that different from spirits sometimes. Changing our form to suit our purpose in our own way. That was… sort of comforting for him. A way to make sense of this world.”

Anders’ free hand brushes against his staff, the bare space where the red favor used to be. Should be. And Hawke waits for him to go on, not wanting to press, but Anders falls silent. A faint smile at the edge of his lips, one that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Well.” Hawke pulls Anders’ coat-turned-blanket closer around him, until the feathers tickle his nose. “I hope Justice understands he’s not getting this coat back. I’m keeping it.”

And there’s the crinkle around the eyes, a genuine smile, startled back to the present moment. “You’re stealing my feathers? …I don’t know why I’m even pretending to be surprised. Magpie.”

“Hey, you gave them to me. It’s _symbolic_.”

“Of what, exactly?”

“You’re the expert, apparently. You tell me.”

Anders’ coat is a warm and comforting weight around him, moody rebel mage pauldrons and all, and the smile that pulls at Anders’ lips is sadder than it has any right to be. “Go back to sleep, love. You’re not making any sense.” Anders disentangles his hand, smoothing it over the feathers. “Let me keep watch for you. Please.”


End file.
